The Nelson County Sheriff's Office delivers bikes to kids on Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024.
Emily Barber
While blasting Christmas music, representatives of the Nelson County Sheriff's Office rode around the county in a lit up truck and patrol cars over the weekend as they surprised families with bikes and turkeys.
The sheriff's office started bright and early at 8 a.m. Dec. 21 to try to catch families at home to deliver the gifts. The sheriffs office received the names of students from The Department of Social Services and Nelson County Public Schools. Nelson County schools donated the turkeys while the sheriffs office received monetary donations for the bicycles.
Each bicycle had an evidence tag tied to the handle with the child's name who was receiving it.
If a family wasn't home during a delivery, deputies left the bikes and turkeys with a note from the sheriff's office.
Sheriff Mark Embrey said there were 19 families with 32 kids in total that received bicycles.
Carmen Thomas, mother of Thomas Glover and Bryanna Callaham, received a bike for each of her children and a Christmas turkey.
Thomas said she was completely surprised by the visit and had tears in her eyes when talking to Embrey.
"My dad, he passed away a couple years ago, so he used to always build our bikes," she said, adding the gifts were extra special to her because of the memory.
"Merry Christmas. Let me give you a hug," Embrey said to Thomas.
Embrey spoke to Thomas, too.
"Thomas, you got a brand new bike for Christmas, buddy. You want to come out and take a look? This is yours. Merry Christmas," he said.
The children were both confused when seeing the deputies walk up with bicycles but were happy when they realized the bikes were for them. Both children said they were excited to receive their bikes and couldn't wait to ride them.
Another stop included kids from foster care.
"I'm just happy. This is our first inaugural bike and badges program," Embry said. "We delivered. We had 19 families and 32 bikes delivered today. Myself and the deputies, DSS [Department of Social Services] and Nelson County Public Schools, who provided turkeys for each family, collaborated for this. It's a wonderful program. We will look to expand on it each and every year and bring Christmas cheer," he said.
Capt. Jeremiah Templeton, Lt. Curtis Brandon, and school resource officers William Brown and James Walz delivered the bikes and turkeys with Embrey.
"It makes it extra special that we know these kids and we get to see these kids one more time before winter break," Brown, the SRO for Tye River Elementary School, said.
Walz said he was grateful the sheriff's office had the chance to give back to the kids.
"I think it's a pretty good program. Through the fact that some of these kids, their parents, may not be able to afford this and we're able to make a difference," Waltz said.
Templeton has similar sentiments to Waltz, that he was glad the sheriff's office had a chance to do this for the community.
"We just want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. We're so glad that we're able to do this program, and I hope these kids really enjoy the opportunities that we were able to provide for them," he said.
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